Email Bounce Rate Calculator
Enter how many emails you sent and how many bounced. See your bounce rate, whether it's safe, and exactly what to do next.
Permanent: "address doesn't exist", "user unknown". Don't know which kind? Put the total here.
Temporary: "mailbox full", "try again later".
Planning a send? Estimate the bounces first
What counts as a good bounce rate?
| Bounce rate | What it means |
|---|---|
| Under 2% | Healthy. Keep removing hard bounces after every send. |
| 2% to 5% | Too high. Your list has old or mistyped addresses. Clean it before the next send. |
| Over 5% | Danger. Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo may start putting your mail in spam, and email services like Mailchimp can pause your account. |
Hard bounces vs soft bounces
Hard bounce: the address is permanently undeliverable. The mailbox doesn't exist, the domain is gone, or the server refused it for good. Remove these right away and never send to them again. Sending to dead addresses is the fastest way to hurt your sender reputation.
Soft bounce: a temporary problem, like a full mailbox, a server that's down, or a message that was too large. These usually deliver on a later try. If the same address soft-bounces three to five sends in a row, treat it as a hard bounce and remove it.
Not sure what a bounce message means? Paste it into the bounce code lookup.
How to lower your bounce rate
- Remove every hard bounce after each send. Most email services do this for you; check that it's on.
- Check old lists before you use them. Addresses go bad as people change jobs, switch providers and abandon accounts, roughly 2% a month by common estimates.
- Fix typos at the source: a sign-up form that catches "gmial.com" saves a bounce later.
- Never send to bought or scraped lists. They're full of dead addresses and spam traps.
- Run the list through a checker first. The free list cleaner catches typos and dead domains; Veml also checks whether each mailbox really exists, from $2 for 500 emails.
Related free tools
Frequently asked questions
What is a good email bounce rate?
Under 2% is healthy. Between 2% and 5% means your list needs cleaning, and over 5% puts your sender reputation and your email account at risk.
How do you calculate bounce rate?
Divide the number of bounced emails by the number of emails sent, then multiply by 100. For example, 30 bounces out of 1,200 sent is a 2.5% bounce rate.
What is the difference between a hard and a soft bounce?
A hard bounce is permanent: the address or domain doesn't exist. A soft bounce is temporary, like a full mailbox or a server that's briefly down.
Should I remove soft bounces?
Not after one. Remove an address if it soft-bounces three to five sends in a row; by then it's usually abandoned.
Why does a high bounce rate matter?
Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo treat lots of bounces as a sign of a careless or spammy sender, so more of your mail goes to spam. Email services like Mailchimp and Constant Contact can also suspend accounts with high bounce rates.
How can I check a list before sending?
Use the free list cleaner to catch typos and dead domains, or Veml for a real mailbox check on every address.
Does this calculator upload my numbers?
No. Everything is worked out in your browser.